Chevron Taking Measured Approach To Shale Gas

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil company, added 228,000 acres in the Marcellus shale in May to follow up on its $3.2 billion acquisition of Atlas Energy, which gave Chevron its first big stake in the northeastern field.

“You’re not going to see Chevron – I can’t speak for others – just shift the whole business into shale, and let other things go,” Bobby Ryan, Chevron’s vice president for global exploration, told the Reuters Global Energy and Climate Summit. He said Chevron’s focus areas remained the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and western Australia, which were all part of a “balanced portfolio” approach to exploration.

“Shale is just one more piece of that portfolio,” he said. “Do we sit around the table, shuddering a bit reacting to headlines? No. I think you’ve seen from us a very measured approach.”

Ryan said Chevron is exploring shale acreage in Eastern Europe and will drill its first well in Poland this year. He acknowledged that success in Eastern European shale would require massive infrastructure investments, since the region was not set up for it.